SINGER Ken Boothe is getting ready to release Journey, his latest album. Recorded and produced at his Kingston home studio, the album, according to Boothe, is a statement on his life. […] Known to most fans as a rocksteady and lovers rock artiste, Boothe goes contemporary, trying some dancehall on Journey. “There is nothing wrong with dancehall music. It’s a 80/20 thing,“ he said. According to Boothe, 80 per cent of the genre is good, but the problem is the 20 per cent. “That 20 per cent can mess you up,” he said.

As the Jamaica Observer reports, there is a documentary about Joe „Drummie“ Isaacs and Studio 1 Rock Steady in the making. Not bad, eh?

In it, Isaacs, who played on many classic songs at Studio One during the 1960s, speaks of his days working with legendary musicians including Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, Jackie Mittoo, Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, Toots and the Maytals, the Heptones, Marcia Griffiths [and] Burning Spear.

Make sure not to miss this: Soul of the lion have produced a documentary on Jamaican sound system operator Cyril Braithewaite aka Count C, who recently passed away. Expect highly interesting interviews with the man himself, King Sporty and Ken Boothe. After having recommended many documentaries here that were sometimes only partly intersting, let me be clear: You gotta watch this one. Sadly, it is hardly longer than 5 minutes. How nice it would’ve been to hear more precious memories of these great artistes.
Waxpoetics #48 contains a piece on Count C (and one about Roots Reggae legend Yabby You), too. Or read more about Count C here. Via magnificent Dancecrasher.

The Jamaican Observer with a nice little article about Lovella Ellis, Alton Ellis‘ daughter. Nice idea she’s working with Ken Boothe’s cousin at the time.

GROWING up in South London, Lovella Ellis, daughter of the late Jamaican rocksteady star Alton Ellis, never thought of making it as a singer. Although her father was a popular singer, Lovella had other ‚girlish stuff‘ on her mind. However, all that changed as she grew older and realised that she hadn’t eluded the music bug after all.

A total of 18 reggae and dancehall artistes, some of them legends, recorded two ska singles in aid of recovery efforts in earthquake-ravaged Japan. The singles — Start Over and Matsushima, a B-side instrumental — were produced by Jun Tochino and Yumiko ‚Yumi‘ Gabe, two Japanese women living in Jamaica. (Jamaica Observer)